Glove and method of making the same



May 1, 1923.`

G. P. BOSWORTH GLOVE AMD METHOD oF MAKING THE SAME Filed May 26, 1919 Patented May l, 1923.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE P. IBOSWORTH, OF CENTRAL FALLS, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HEMPHILL COMPANY. OF CENTRAL SETTS.

FALLS, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION 0F MASSACHU- GLOV'E AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

lApplication led May 26, 1919. Serial No. 299,788.

To r/Z- whom it may concern lie it known that I, Gnocca P. BoswoRTH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Central Falls, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented an Improvement in Gloves and,

Methods of Making the Same, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to gloves and to the method of making the same.

The invention relates more particularly to machine-knitted gloves, and the object thereof is to provide a glove that may be worn either as a right-hand or a left-hand glove without alteration, thereby effecting a material saving in the cost of producing gloves by eliminating the necessity of adjusting or changing over the knitting machine in order to knit both gloves of a pair.

In order that the principles of the invention vmay be readily understood, I have in the accompanying` drawings disclosed merely for illustrative purposes certain einbodiments whereim- Fig. l is a perspective View of a glove knitted in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a'perspective view of the glove blank;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the thumb and first finger portions of the glove illustrating the base of the thumb as having been fashioned; and l Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating the adjacent sides of the thumb and first finger as having been fashioned.

It is Within the spirit and scope `of this invention to form the glo-ve herein either by hand or upon any suitable type of knitting machine. but herein I have illustrated a machine-knitted glove, preferably, though not necessarily. eviiploying the type of knitting machine wherein the needle cylinder may be rotated or reciprocated, as the case may be, such machine embodying the principal characteristics of that shownvand described in my c0-pending application Serial No. 372,347, filed April 8. 1920. suitable altei-ations being made in the construction and arrangement of the various group-selecting cams in order to effect the withdrawal and restoration of the necessary groups of needles at the proper timevin the operation of the machine.

It will, however, be obvious that within lthe scope and purpose of the invention the glove herein may be constructed on other types of machines, such, for instance, as

upon that type of machine known as the ted integral with the hand 2, comprising av tubular, seamless section 3 and an oppositely selvaged strip 4 extending from said tubular. seamless portion 3 to the bases of the fingers of the glove. The strip 4 is preferably approximately double'the Width of that portion of the hand between the base 5 of the thumb and the base-line 6 6 of the fingers thereof, and this section has selvaged edges 7, -7 which, during the knitting, lie adjacent to each other along the thumb side of the hand'. The glove herein shown also comprises a' thumb-covering 8 consisting of a double-width, oppositely selvaged strip knitted integra-l with the tubular -portion 3 by reciprocating knitting. The selvaged edges thereof, as shown at 9. 9, lie adjacent to the selvaged edges 7. 7 of the hand of said glove and respectively form continuations strip 8 is furthermore of such a length that when the edges 9, 9 and the doubled edge forming theJ end of said strip are stitched together there will be formed a pocketA sufficient in extent to contain only the thumb.

In addition to the members of the glove hereinbefore described, said glove preferably has'suitable finger coverings, herein illustrated as individual finger coverings, although it will be obvious that-within the spirit and scope of the invention the glove is not .limited to such a formation. as 'it may reasonably include glove mittens, socalled, or the invention will include a mitten where-in all' of the fingers will be contained in a single pocket.

lVhen the glove is to embody a separate pocket for each of the fingers, as herein shown at 14.), 1l. l2 and 13. representing the first, second, third and fourth fingers, these lingers may be and preferably are knitted integral With the strip 4 of the hand.

of said edges, and theA lili As herein shown, the first finger covering 10 is composed of two strips 14 and 15 knitted integral with .opposite portions of.

the doubled strip 4, and having oppositely selvaged edges, said strips being approximately of finger length and single width, so that when the opposite edges thereof and the tips are stitched together, a pocket of suliicient size and length to contain only the first finger will be produced. rilhe second finger 11 also comprises two strips 19 and 2O of substantially cti-extensive areas, having oppositely selvaged edges and formed integral with opposite portions of the strip. Upon stitching together of the adjacent edges of said strips 1 9 and 20and across the ends thereof, a pocket will be formed ofa size suitable to contain only the second linger-of the hand rlhe third finger 12 is likewise formed of two oppositely seli/aged strips 21 and 22 and these, like the two previously described finger strips, are of single width and finger length so that upon stitching together of the oppositeadjacent edges and the ends thereof, said strips will produce a pocket of sufficient size to contain only the third finger. rll`he fourth finger 13 is composed preferably of a single, double-width strip 23 having 'oppositely selvaged edges 24 and 25 lying adjacent to each other and overlapping the adjacent edges of the strips 21 and 22. The strip 23 is formed integral with the strip 4 and upon stitching together of the edges 24 and 25 and the doubled edges constituting the end of said strip, a pocket will be formed having a seam upon the inner edge thereof and of a size suitable to contain only the fourth finger of the hand.

Assuming that the glove herein described is to be formed upon the type of machine above referred to, the knitting, although `it :may be started at any suitable point in the glove, is herein commenced at the end 26 of the wrist and uponthe full complement of needles of the machine which'itl is assumed are arranged in circular formation, Knitting continues rotatively from the end 26 thereof along said wrist to and into the hand to the line 5, representing the base or beginning of the thumb strip 8.

rl`he glove herein shown and described is formed in such a way that the opposite or front and back faces thereof are substantially Coextensive in area-that is, each face of the glove contains an equal or substantially equal portion of the wrist, hand, thumb and linger coverings of the glove, and by reason of such a construction it will be obvious that the glove may be worn equally well-upon either the right or the left hand.

Such a construction permits the knitting of right and left gloves, or, in other words, the knitting of a pair of gloves upon the intacte same machine without alteration or adjustment thereof, and therebyv efl'ects considerable saving inthe knitting of gloves.

lin order to produce a glove of this nature upon the circular knitting machine, it isdesirable to employ a circular series of needles vcorresponding in diameter to the diameter of the tubular portion of the hand of the glove, which tubular portion has loops corresponding in number to the loops of the strip 4 combined with the thumb strip 8. lt will, however, be obvious that a tubular section of fabric of the size ofthe section 3, when made large enough to surround the thumb and hand, will be larger than is necessary for the wrist of the glove.v rllherefore, the loops composing the wrist may, during the knitting of the initial courses thereof, be drawn much tighter and therefore be very much smaller than the loops from which vthe tubular portion 3 of the hand is composed, and as the knitting proceeds toward said tubular portion, the loops of said wrist are gradually increased in size to conform with the larger diameter of the tubular section 3, although the wrist 1 will contain the same number of wales as does the said hand portion 3.

lt will be also be evident that the fashioning of the wrist portion 1 may be effected by using a yarn of smaller size and that the yarns composing the Various sections of the glove may contrast in number, size, quality and color or they may all correspond in these respects.

Having reached the point 5 at the base of the thumb 8, it is within the scope and purpose of the invention next to knit the hand strip 4 and the strip comprising the thumb 8, separately and in the desired sequence, or said strips may be knitted simultaneously, but herein the thumb strip 8 is knitted irst, and to accomplish such a result, during the knitting of the last circular course of the tubular section 3, certain well known mechanism operates so that the movable member which herein is the needle cylinder, instead of being rotated, will be reciprocated to knit upon the desired number of needles to form the double-Y width strip 8, the other needles being withdrawn from action and retaining their loops. llhen a strip of double width and of slightly greater length than the length of the thumb that the same is'to cover. has been completed, the needles upon which said thumb strip has been knitted will next be withdrawn from action, and the remaining needles of the circular series may then be restored and knitting will proceed 'there` on to form the oppositely salvaged strip 4 'until the base-line 6 of the ngers is reached.

From this point on, knitting may proceed .upon any desired group or groups of needles, to effect the formation of the finger strips; or, if a glove mitten or a mitten is to be formed, suitable cams may be provided for selecting the necessary needles to effect the production of a finger` pocket thereof.

Assuming, however, that the fourth finger covering is t'o be next in order of for-l are produced in the usual manner, certain needles of each preceding group being employed together with additional needles to effect. the overlapping of the several strips whereby gussets 27, 28-and 29 may be formed integral with said .finger coverings in order to effect greater fullness in the material constituting the fingers of the glove.

At the completion of the finger strips, the blank, as illustrated in Fig. 2, may be removed from the machine and the adjacent selvaged edges 9, 9 of the thumb and the ends of the strip 8 bestitched together to form the seam 30 extending from the point along the inside of the thumb and across thetop thereof. The edges 7, 7 of the hand strip 4 may likewise be united by stitching,

together with the corresponding edges lof the first finger 10 so asto form a seam 16 extending from the point 5 to the end of the first finger. The ends of the strips 14 and.

15 and the inner edges thereof may also be stitched together to form seams 17 and 18, In a like manner opposite edges and the ends of the strips 19 and 20, opposite edges and the ends of the strips 21 and 22, and the inner edges 25`and 26 and ends of the strip 23 mav be united by stitching,

and thus complete the glove.

It is sometimes desirable to provide more material either at the base of the thumb or at the baseof the first finger of the glove upon the side thereof adjacent to said thumb in order that there may be the necessary fullness of that portion of the glove near the base of said thumb and the adjacent portion ofthe hand near the base\of the first finger after the edges have been stitched together.

To effect the first-mentioned result, I have, as shown in Fig. 3, provided a thumb 31 of j double ividth and single lengthhaving the base portion thereof fa shigoned at 32'. 33 upon opposite edges, respectively, of the strip thereof, and in Fig. 4 I have illustrated a thumb strip formed in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 3, and in addition thereto the selvagd portions 34 and 35 of the hand .said thumb.

similar to the parts marked'7, 7 of Fig. 2,

are fashioned at 36 and 37, respectively, upon the sides thereof adjacent to the thumb 31, said fashionededges 36 and 37 forming continuations, respectively, of the fashioned edges 32 vand 33 and also of the outer edges 38 and 39 of the strips constituting the first finger covering.

It is within the scope and purpose of the invention to knit the various elements of the gloves shown in Figs. 3 and 4 in the same order orvsequence, as described in connection With the blank illustrated in Fig. 2. Preferably, however, knitting will be in the reverse orden-that is it Will be started at the tips of the fingers rather than at the end of the Wrist, in order that the needles employed in forming the fashioned portions 32, and 37 may be restored when the knitting the wrist, In all other respects, however, the operations may be and are the same as herein'before described.

Having thus described certain illustrative embodiments of my invention, I desire it to be understood that although specific terms are employed they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for'the purposes 0f limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

I claim- 1. A knitted glove* having a seamless hand covering, a thumb covering knitted integral with the hand covering and having 'a seam only at the inside and'across the end thereof, al fourth finger covering having a seam extending only along the inside and across the .top thereof, and third, second and first finger coverings' having seams at opposite sides and across the ends thereof.

2. A knitted `glove having a seamless hand covering, a thumb covering knitted in,-

tegral with said hand covering and having a seam extending along the inside and across the tip only thereof, a fourth finger ing seams extending along opposite sides andacross the tips thereof, the outer seam of said first finger covering extending downwardly' to action rather than s withdrawn from action, as will be necessary proceeds from the end of and uniting With the seam on the inside of 3. A knitted glove having a hand covering formed in part of a tubular Web and in part of an oppositely selvaged Web, a strip rknitted integral with said hand lcovering and constituting a right or left thumb covering, and a plurality of finger strips knitted integral with said hand covering. m

4, A knitted glove having a hand covering formed in part-of a tubular Weband in part of an oppositely selvaged web, a thumb strip formed integral with saidtubular part and constituting a right or left thumb covering, a plurality of finger' coverings knitted integral With said selvaged portion, and integral gussets formed between said finger coverings.

5. A knitted glove having a hand covering provided with a seamless, tubular portion, and an integrally knitted, oppositely selvaged portion, a double-width, oppositely selvaged strip knitted integralwith the seamless, tubular section of' said hand covering and constituting a right or left thumb covering, and a plurality of overlapping, front and back, oppositel)v selvaged finger strips knitted integral with the oppositely selvaged portion ot said hand covering.

6. 'lhat method of knitting a glove, which consists in knitting by rotary knitting upon a complete, circular series of needles to form a tubular hand covering, in knitting reciprocatingly upon a portion of said needles to form an integral, double-Width, selvaged thumb strip, in knitting reciprocatingly upon the remaining portion of said needles to form an oppositelyselvaged strip as a continuation of said ltubular hand covering, and in knitting reciprocatingly upon selected groups of said needles to form front and back finger coverings.

7. That method of knitting a glove, which consists in knitting upon a complete, circular series of needles by rotary knitting to form a tubular section constituting a portion of the hand covering of the glove, then in knitting by reciprocating knitting upon a portion of said needles to form integral with said tubular portion an oppositely selvaged strip constituting a portion of said hand covering, then in knitting upon a portion of said needles to form as a continuation,

of said tubular section a double-Width strip constituting a 'right or left thumb covering, and in knitting upon selected groups of needles to form integral with said oppositely salvaged hand strip a plurality of selvaged finger strips.

8. That method of knitting a glove, which consists in knitting by rotary knitting upon a complete, circular series of needles to form a tubular hand covering, in knitting reciprocatingly upon a portion of said needles to form an integral, double-width, selvaged thumb strip, in knitting` reciprocatingly upon the remaining portion ot' said needles to form an oppositely selvaged strip as a continuation of said tubular hand covering, in 'knitting reciprocatingly upon selected groups of said needles to form front and back first, second and third finger strips, and in knitting reciprocatingly upon a selected group of needles to forni. a fourth finger strip approximately double the Width of said other finger strips.

9. 'llhat method of knitting a glove, which consists in knitting upon a complete, cir- 'inname cular series of needles by rotary knitting to form a tubular covering forI a portion of the hand, then in knitting reciprocatingly upon a portion of said needles to form a double-Width, single-length strip constituting a 'right or left thumbcoverlng, then in knitting upon the remaining portion of said needles` by reciprocating knitting to form an oppositely selvaged strip constituting the remainder of the hand covering, and thenI in knitting upon selected groups of said needles a plurality of selvaged finger strips.

l0. That method of knitting a glove, Which consists in knitting upon a complete, circular series of needles b y rotary knitting to form a seamless, tubular covering for a portion of the hand, then in knitting upon a portion of said needles a double-Width singlelength lAstrip' constituting a right `or left thumb covering, then in knitting upon the remaining portion of said needles by reciprocating knitting to form an oppositely selvaged strip 'constituting the remainder of the hand covering, and then in knitting upon selected groups of said needles a pluarlity of overlapping, selvaged strips constituting the A coverings of said glove. 1l. That method of knitting a: glove, which consists in knitting upon a series of linger -needles to form a seamless, tubular Wrist and in gradually increasing the loops formed by said needles to fashion said Wrist, then in knitting as an integral continuation of' said Wrist'and upon the same number of needles a seamless, tubular hand, then in knitting upon a portion of said needles, as

a (ontinuation of said tubular portion, a double-Width, oppositely selvaged thumb strip, then in knitting upon the remaining needles of said series'reciprocatingly to form, as a continuation of said tubular portion, an oppositely selvaged strip constituting a portion of the hand covering of the glove, and then in knitting upon selected groups of said needles to form integral with said strip oppositely selvaged strips constituting finger coverings.-

12.That method of ,forming a glove, which consists lin knitting upon a circular 'series Aof needles to form afseamless, tubular wrist and in gradually increasing the length ot the loops thereof to fashion mid WristQ then in knitting upon the same number of needles to form a fseamless, tubular hand, then in knitting uphn a selected number of said needles to form as a continuation of said tubular hand, an oppositely selvaged, double-width thumb strip, then in knitting upon the remaining port-ions of said needles to knit integral with said hand an oppositely selvaged strip constituting a continuation ot said hand, then in knitting upon a selected group of said needles to knit integral With said hand strip a double-Width, fourth finger strip, then in knitting in the desired sequence upon selected groups of needles including portions of the previously formed group to knit oppositely selvaged, overlapping front and back tinger strips, and then in stitching the edges of said stri s together.

13. A glove comprising a seam ess tubular section constituting a part of the hand cov ering, a strip forming a` continuation of a part of said tubular section and constituting a part of the hand covering, a double Width thumb strip formed integral With and as a continuation of the remaining part of said tubular section and finger strips knitted integral With the strip of said hand covering.

14. A glove comprising a seamless tubular` section constituting a part of the hand. a double Width strip formed as a continuation of said tubular'section and constituting the thumb, the base of said strip being fashioned, a second double Width strip forming a continuation of said tubular section and constituting a part of said hand, and a plurality of finger strips formed integra] with and as continuations of said hand strip.

l5. A glove comprising a seamless tubular section constituting a part of the hand, a double width strip formed as a continuation of said tubular section and constituting the thumb, the base of said strip being fashioned, a second double Widthstrip forming a continuation of said tubular section and constituting a part of said hand, the base of said second double Width strip being fashioned and a plurality ot fingers formed integral and as continuations of said hand strip.

' 16. A knitted article having a seamless tubular hand covering and an integrally knitted strip, a double Width integral strip knitted as a continuation of said seamless tubular hand covering and constituting a right or left thumb covering and a plurality of overlapping front and back finger strips knitted integral With the oppositely selvaged portion of said hand covering.

17. That method of knitting a glove which consists in knitting rotatably upon a complete circular series of needles a tubular seamless hand covering, in knitting reciprocatingly upon a portion of said needles to form an integral double Width thumb strip, in knitting reciproca tingly upon the remaining portion ot' said needles to form as a continuation of said tubular hand covering, a double Width integral strip constituting the iront and back coverings of that portion of the hand between the base of the thumb and the bases of the fingers, and then in knitting reciprocatingly uponselected groups otl said needles to form front and back finger coverings, portions of the needles used in knitting said strips being also employed in knitting adjacent strips.

18. A knitted article comprising a hand covering formed in part of a tubular web and in part 'of an oppositely selvaged web, a double Width integral strip knitted asa continuation of and integral with said hand covering and constituting a right or left thumb covering, the base ot said strip .being tapered and a plurality of finger` strips knitted integral with said hand covering.

19. A knitted article comprising` a hand covering formed iny part of a tubular Web and in part ot' an oppositely selvaged web, a double Width integral strip knitted as a continuation ot and integral with said hand covering and constituting a right or left thumb covering, the base ot the oppositely selvaged portion of said hand covering being tapered and a plurality of linger strips knitted integral with said hand covering.

20. A knitted article comprising a hand covering formed in part of a tubular Weband in -part of an oppositely selvaged Web, the portions of said selvagedI edges adjacent to said tubular web being tapered, a double Width integral strip knittedV as a continuation of and integral with said hand covering and constituting a right or left thumb covering,`aud a plurality of finger strips knitted integral with said hand coveriin testimony wherecf, I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE P. BosWoRTii. 

